Tex - WY sounds nice. You'll have to let me know when you make it clsoer to SLC. My weight seems to have gone somewhat back to normal.. around 104-105.. I'll take it, and I know this week it's likely to go up a bit, I just didn't want it to go around 110. Which maybe is odd, because I have to admit I competed even at the elite level in gymnastics there, but running changes composition a lot.

Jeroly - I'm really jealous of people that can lose weight on 2300 calories a day. Such is life. Good luck to you, and glad you've found a group to run with.

Zenetar - sorry about the setbck. I'd maybe put more rest days in the mix. Honestly, starting SLOW is the best thing you can do when you go back. Instead of M-T-W, do M-W-F, and REST in between. I know I say this a lot, but trust me, I've been through a LOT of injuries, and that includes big ones that took me out for 4 months at a time.

Ilana - glad the hip seems to be slowly getting better. I'd just see what happens with the knee - every now and then I get something weird like that and it resolves itself. I'm registered for the Hobbler Half in July, so I'm hoping to break my half PR there. I was able to do that for $10 because it's the same group that runs Provo City so I just transfered the FM I was going to do before I got into Ogden. Oddly I'm pretty nervous about the prospect of running a HM at under a 7:20 pace, but I think it's doable for me, I'm just scared it's going to hurt! We went up on that road yesterday on the Harley though and it's beautiful so I'm excited about it.

DanK - CONGRATS on the awesome time!! Along with everyone else, very interested in reading the RR.

RB - glad you're feeling better, and yes it really does happen. I did that in Boston, as you remember, and pretty much the same story - targeted my goal even though I knew it was dumb and after mile 20 I didn't run a full mile, lots of walking those last 6. I'm really hoping that doesn't happen in my next race, as I know it's risky. I've actually purposely over dressed on the last few runs because I'm worried it'll be hot and it was such a cold winter my body isn't used to it at all.

Cws - have you gotten any medicine to clear up the chest congestion? That;'s never fun.. my allergies are awful half the time around May.

Runbegan - I'm not sure I know where you are.. but the warm up here was pretty much the same.. it's been GREAT weather-wise but running-wise I havne't had a great chance to ease into the warm temps! I notice progress a lot on big hills too, there's a lot where I am.

Ah I can't believe this race is this weekend! Last 9 miler went fine.. I overdressed, pretty much on purpose.. I hope it's not too hot, but at the top of the canyon it's not going to be, just at the end if anything. Forecast currently calling for a high of 70 and rain the day before, so I'm hoping it doesn't rain and stays in the 50s-60s. HH plans have little to no running in the last week of taper, haha. I think I'll add a few miles but stay on the very low side.

cwschind - I ran the Harpers Ferry 1/2 on Saturday. It was a beautiful course but had absolutely killer (at least for me given my complete lack of hill work the past three months) hills. I was just using it for my longest run of the week and just wanted to turn 10 minute miles or less, so given the hills I was very happy with my 2:06.

I'm running in the Capitol Hill Classic 10K on Sunday, and hope to run it in under 50 minutes, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to sustain that pace for the full race... we'll see. I am tapering of sorts this week, running 24+ the race for a weekly total of 30 after 3 consecutive 45 mile weeks, and tomorrow I'm going to try a race-paced three mile interval amidst my scheduled 8 miles. That could give me a good clue as to how possible running twice that distance at that speed could be for me at this point.

runbo: Sorry to hear that things didn't go well. As others have said, sometimes it just isn't there. Hopefully dropping out means that it didn't take much out of you so you can get right back on the training. Having the near-in goal of the HM sounds like exactly the right thing to give you something to focus on. As for my training: I did 2 months of 30mpw (5 runs/wk), then went into a pretty textbook Pfitz 18/55 cycle. So there's nothing fancy or original there. I think a handful of things helped me: First, I was in PT last summer for ITBS, and my legs are _much_ stronger than they were before that. Second, I had never been able to stick to a 5x/wk schedule before this recent stretch, and I think my body finally figured out how to recover when I was able to stick to 5x/wk. Finally, I found it really helpful that Pfitz had me running at a variety of paces. I've tended to be really bad at pacing, but having to figure out and then stick to runs at LT, 5K, GMP, GA, and recovery paces helped me develop a much better understanding of what different paces feel like. That's not unique to Pfitz, of course, but for whatever reason, I found the way he presents it easy to understand.

Finally, I'm with cwschind: it sounds like you overdressed. Given how on-the-edge one is with hydration in a marathon, I bet that was a major contributor.

kkrunner: Same thing - I'd watch out for being overdressed! I hope your taper is going well, and good luck for Sunday! Is there tracking for your race?

texas: Funny that you mention the 50+ crowd when talking about the overcompetitive factor. I learned this at Reach the Beach NH this past fall, when my team averaged ~7:30 for 24 hours and failed to beat a team called "Grumpy Old Men", which looked to be composed exclusively of 50+ male runners. As I was saying to my wife yesterday, if you want to keep a strong pace in a distance race, find a guy in the 2nd half who has a grey buzz cut. There's no way that dude's not tougher than you

ilana: If it makes you feel any better, I had a weird clicking noise in my heel for years when I walked. It only disappeared when I started running more. I mostly chalk this kind of thing up to "getting old sucks."

zenetenar: Bummed for you that you've had a hard time avoiding pain/setbacks. I'm with the crowd that says it might be best to just go cold turkey for a while to let your body heal. Good luck.

cwschind: Trust the taper! I was feeling completely jumpy and unsure last week, like every other person who's ever not yet had the experience of the taper before the race. It certainly seems like you've been super active with the tri and the marathon prep, so I'm sure you're working that all off with the taper. Fingers crossed for the weather, and best of luck on Sunday.

runbeganatforty: I definitely noticed in this past cycle that I felt stronger the weeks after I did more hills than usual. Probably the best I felt through the whole thing was the week after I did 3 runs up the hills in Switzerland outside of Zurich. I'm definitely going to do more hill running in my next cycle. As for ramping back up: I wouldn't worry about the pace right now (unless you mean sense of pace) - just get the miles up and get into the groove before you start the plan.

I was originally targeting Providence, but switched to a minor marathon in VT once I realized that Providence was scheduled for Mother's day this year. After I ran a fast half in training, my DW agreed that it'd be OK for me to do Providence (which looked to be a much faster course than the VT one), and that we'd make a weekend out of it with the kids. She booked us into a hotel with a pool, which was guaranteed to make the kids happy.

We headed down on Saturday, got delayed in traffic, and had to go straight to the expo to pick up my number. The only other expo either of us had been to was the one for MCM (which she ran last fall), so it was .. quaint. We picked up my packet, dropped our stuff in the hotel, and went out to dinner. We have an evolving family tradition of eating at some fancy Italian restaurant the night before a marathon, so I had made a reservation for us at a place on Federal Hill called Camille's. Once we saw that it was a pretty formal dining setup, we were briefly terrified that our kids would end up ruining the other patrons' dinners, so we put them under heavy threat. They turned out to be good, and the food was great until I found a 7" hair in my gnocchi The restaurant was good about it though, and we got free dessert.

We let the kids stay up late, and then everyone was asleep by 10PM or so. I got everything laid out for the morning, and managed to fall asleep OK, even through I think I woke up 30 times or so. At 5:50 I went off to the bathroom to get ready, ate the chocolate chip bagel I had brought with me, and made the world's worst cup of coffee in the crappy one-cup-in-the-room thing. I think I'm probably worse than a teenage girl getting ready for the prom on my race days, and it took me a good 35 minutes to get everything in order. I put my improperly-cut trash bag on, and started out on the ~15m walk to the start area.

I was worried about the weather for the day beforehand - NOAA said that it was going to be ~55F, with 95%+ humidity at the start, and the possibility of thunderstorms. It was great to have the cloud cover, but I worried about the humidity.

I love the energy at the start of races - this is one of the things that got me hooked on running. I took down my Gatorade G1, hit the port-o-potty (good on the organizers for having plenty, the wait was < 5m 15m before the start), ditched the trash bag, and headed into the starting chute. I queued up near the 8min pace sign, figuring that this would help me to avoid starting too fast. There was a very noticeable police presence - when I looked up at the surrounding buildings from the chute, I could see guys with guns up there watching the crowd.

They gave us the 1 minute warning right before 7:30, so I started RunKeeper, put it into a baggie, then stuffed it into my armband. For some reason the race didn't start for another ~9 minutes - dunno why, they were just playing music and waiting for something, I guess.

While waiting for the race to start, I kept repeating my plan in my head: Try to hit 7:15s for the first half, hit the half in something around 1:35, pick it up a bit between 13 and 19.25 if I felt OK, tackle the hill there, then cruise in. If everything broke right, I thought that'd get me under 3:10.

When they finally started us, everyone took off like mad. This was only my second marathon, but both have been the same thing: it seems like everyone goes zipping off the line. I had to look down at my garmin a handful of times to back myself off of 6:45, then off of 7:00. I ended up at 7:04 for that first mile, and resolved to slow down. I felt like people were streaming by me at this point, but I was trying to focus on running my own race.

I managed to back off and do 7:18, 7:15, 7:10, and 7:14 for the next 4 miles. At this point, I knew that I had one of the only hills on the course, so I told myself that I'd push to the top of that hill, but that I'd try to keep my pace at 7:30 or better. Got to the top and felt OK, and was happy to see mile 6 go by in 7:16, and mile 7 in 7:13. I ate the first pack of sports beans. Took it easy on the downhill, but still got through mile 8 in 7:09. At this point I found a lady who appeared to be running about the same pace, and settled on her hip for a while to try to stay consistent. 10, 11, 12 (more beans), and 13 went by in 7:16, 7:09, 7:12, and 7:12. They had a clock up at the halfway point, and I was psyched to see it say 1:35:01 when I hit the mat - for someone who is terrible at pacing, I couldn't have expected to be any more on plan than that!

At this point I felt pretty good, so I tried to very gently pick up the pace for the middle stretch before the hill at mile 19.25. The race had definitely thinned out by this point - I found myself running with 3-4 different people for ~1 mi stretches, but there were also some stretches where the nearest person in front of me was ~100ft ahead. The 4 miles after the half unfolded like this: 7:13, 7:13, 7:12, 7:05, so I wasn't able to pick it up much, but I didn't feel awful either. More beans at mile 17, then I struggled some to stay on pace in mile 18, which ended up at 7:19.

I don't pay attention to HR on my garmin when running, but this was more or less the point where it started to tick up. I was sitting between 165 and 171 for the first 17 miles, but started to inch up at this point, going from 170 to 175 between here and mile 20. I tried to focus on consistent leg turnover, and got back on pace with mile 19 at 7:10. I got confused leading up to mile 20, because the race elevation chart (http://www.rhoderaces.com/img/...levation-revised.pdf) said that the last big hill was going to start at mile 19.25, and I had marked it on my pace band. I ran from 18 -> 19 mentally preparing for this .. and then it didn't happen. It was pretty clear that it wasn't going to happen either, because we were on a bike path along the ocean, and things were flat as could be up ahead.

By this time, a bunch of folks who had blown were walking. I got through mile 20 in 7:06, then finally saw the hill. I assumed I was just not thinking clearly at this point, but I did remember (and had marked on my band) that the hill was supposed to last for 1.25 miles (gaining about 90ft). My whole plan centered around this hill: I figured if I got to it in good shape and managed to not lose more than a minute going up it, I'd have a decent shot to shoot down the far side and try to finish strong. So I hit the bottom of the hill, gave a good push ... and got to the top of the hill in about 15s, realizing that it was not even remotely the size it was on the map/elevation profile.

OK, I figured: I can go with this! I got through miles 21 and 22 in 7:15 and 7:15. I was hurting pretty good at this point, but I knew I was on a good pace, and I was determined to not miss out on the BQ. I ate as many beans as I could take down, which wasn't many. Hit mile 23 in 7:07, then realized we were crossing the bridge back into Providence! Got over the bridge, and my happiness at hitting mile 23 was soon gone as the course was flooded with people. It took me a minute to realize what had happened: they had the half marathon course and the full course overlapping for the end of both races. This was definitely a change for this year - I was in the same race last year, and the HM was on a different course entirely (or maybe at a different time - either way, the two races didn't overlap).

This got worse quickly on the other side of the bridge, when I realized that we were on the same roads that we had headed out on at the start of the race. There was a short but vertical hill between 23 and 24, which really sucked - this was the point where things legit hurt, and I felt more or less doubled over going up that ****er. Then a long, gradual hill up to the mile 24 marker. Some guy watching on that hill picked me out of the half runners and started yelling "shorten up your stride 746! shorten up your stride!" Love that guy - the sheer awesomeness of a spectator picking me out of the crowd of half runners and offering useful advice made me smile. My garmin says 7:16 for that mile, but it felt like 10:16. Mercifully downhill after the left hand turn after the mile 24 marker, and down by the water to head into the city. At this point, I could see the buildings of downtown, and I reminded myself that I'd hate myself forever if I failed to bring it home from this point.

Between 24 and 25 the course hit a path that ran along the bay. That's nice, but the half marathoners were a major problem here: From what I understand, they started 30 minutes after us, so the folks trying to run < 3:30 in the full were competing for space on the path with folks running > 2:30 in the half. Despite the concerns, I don't remember having to slow down much, and hit mile 25 having run 7:08 for the last mile.

I knew I had it in the bag at this point, and resolved to finish as strong as I could. The HM traffic got downright stupid at this point - there was a lady ahead of me between 25 and 26 who was dressed like a peacock and zig-zagging like she was trying to avoid a WWII gunner. I went weaving as fast as I could through the mix of people power walking and jogging, and finished that mile in 6:56.

At this point I could see the finish, so I started sprinting, or at least what felt like sprinting! DW was near the finish with our girls, but I couldn't hear much of anything, and was still focused on getting through the traffic. When I got close enough, I could see 3:08:5x on the clock! A kick and I was done. Stopped my garmin, and saw that it was at 3:09:10. I stopped RK, pounded a water and called DW to figure out where she was at.

I found the girls after a fashion, got hugs and congrats, got the youngest a slice of pizza, and we headed out. I started to get texts offering congratulations on the 3:19, then remembered the 9 minute delay on the start. DW started updating everyone, which resulted in another wave of texts, which was pretty cool! My official time ended up at 3:09:00.

On the way back from Providence, I took a wrong exit just south of Boston (when I thought I was getting in the HOV lane). We made a snap decision to head to the North End for a late lunch, ate at our favorite Italian place, then got some canolis to go. It ended up being a fantastic spur of the moment thing.

I'm feeling pretty good today - sore, but much better than last year. I'm going to take the rest of this week off, then get back to it for Chicago. I'm also now trying to figure out if being 1 minute under my BQ time gives me any shot of getting into Boston 2014. I'm guessing it's a long shot, but I'll sit tight for a while before trying to figure out if I want to run something earlier than Chicago to try to get more headroom under the time.

If you got this far, I think I owe you a medal or something. Sorry, I didn't intend for this to be 10K words!

dan - Loved the RR. I never get tired of reading them. I don't think there was much doubt you were going to run fast based on your cycle. But I was thinking 3:15 not sub 3:10. Excellent race and strategy. I am with you on the halvers merging with the full. It never fails that the marathoners are working hard trying to bust a time and have to weave around three extra large women holding hands, moving slow and yelling like they just won the lottery. Annoying! suppose you will be leaving us for faster pastures now. PS Great call on the cannoli.

jeroly - Best of luck on the 10k. I think it is the easiest distance to run mentally. Run hard until you begin to lose your breath and then back off slightly. Try to hold it and run behind anyone who can blck the wind for you. I've only run in DC a couple of times when my daughter was checking out schools there but I love to run in that town

kk- Excited to see how you do this weekend. Channel all of that life stress and get yourself a PR

runbegan - Nice way to start your ramp-up to Pfitz. Ideally you would like to be at 40mpw beofre it starts.

cws - Take Cleveland by storm. In honor of Rush being inducted into the Hall of Fame, can I suggest "Marathon" as a pre race rock tune? Great that you've been able to drop the 10 pounds and I still think there is untapped race speed this cycle. Weather is the wild card.

runbo - Don't beat yourself up buddy. Sometimes it's best to go for that A goal and accept the consequences. You laid it on the line and came up short. No big deal. Many people are content to go for a safe goal. You probably didn't have enough long weeks in your legs. Go sign up for that half and get some redemption.

Ilana - I don't agree with runbo that your injury is "Jim like". It simply wasn't random enough! I hope you can sort it out fast and it's nothing. By the way,I was talking to a friend at my run club and he is running the Durango Double later this year. His daughter lives in Durango and he visits her a couple of times a year. He said his daughter is a runner too. Like Ted, I think you know every one in Durango.

zenetar - Bummer on the setback, but it sounds like the shoes were the problem. My foot doctor told me when I was having PF issues, that I should wear shoes as much as possible with arch support.

Texas - I don't thnk there is anything wrong with your mileage but it could have been too much too quick. I've already run 86 miles ths month after our race and seem to be doing fine. Congrats on your daughter!

London - Very jealous of your Park Run system. There is a Park Run USA organization but it is pitiful to this point. If I had the time to spare I would run my own Park run in my area. As far as the 10k goes, I would do as Ilana says and avoid tempos for the time being.

Ted - Have a great race in Green Bay. I kinda wish I was there with you but there were no hotels to be had anywhere near town. Weather does not sound ideal but you're experienced and will deal with it. Don't forget to see yourself on the giant screen as you lap the field. Maybe break into a Clay Matthews poise as you exit the players tunnel?

crznszn - 10k races get harder to find as the weather warms up. Then again I think it's easier to put on a 5k so that's why you see so many for charities schools and other worthwhile things. I hope you enjoyed Mom's day. Since you asked, I was doing the Pftiz muliple marathoning plan (4 weeks) and I feel pretty good. I am finding I need to sleep more though. I've even put n some 6m MP efforts. It calls for weekly miles of 25, 39, 48 in the weeks leading to the race and 28m pre-race.

Rocky - I would never have the guts to try pacing a 3:45 full. Great job. I've got a pacing gig coming up for the Soldier Field 10 miler.

I will not run a marathon this wekend. I feel strong enough to get after it again with only 4 weeks between races. Pfitz's mutliple marathon plan has me fast and fit, I think. Green Bay's hotels were filled. So I ws going to run a local one, Chicagoland Spring Marathon on my LR route. Weather is the deciding factor. Me, 26.2's and heat will never equal BQ. The temps are predicted to hit 83 with 66 as an overnight low. So 70F at race time? No thanks. That is why I ran Carmel in April to avoid this situation. Instead, it will be a 5k race this Sunday and the Soldier Field 10 mile pacing gig next week.

Summer is here. I hope it doesn't affect this weekends racers too much. Good luck gang!

cws - I hope you get over that cold or allergy or whatever. I hate being sick. And yes, the washer and dryer are amazing! I wish I'd gone to the HE type long ago.

Ted - you're running this weekend? Good luck!

Jim - yowza on that weather. I don't blame you for bailing. And I might know your friend's daughter if she's in the running club!

Dan - great report. You certainly beat my prediction of 3:15!

jeroly, KK, anyone else running this weekend - good luck!

My hip is feeling a lot better but not 100%. Also a couple of nights ago I had a calf spasm (I had a run of them last year, as some of you may remember) which woke me screaming - felt like a tennis ball in my calf, it was so hard. OW. It took a few days to stop feeling twinge-y. But this morning I had a great run, a trail run, only 5 miles but fast (relatively - 10:45 average) and comfortable.

This weekend I won't be around as Thursday morning we are leaving for 5 days on the San Juan river. We have little catarafts and are going with a group of friends, mixed rafts and kayaks. It's supposed to be quite hot so it will be fun to be on the water.

DanK - thanks for the report, really enjoyed it and hope to get there one day. Sounds like a great weekend with the family!

Jimair - thanks for the well wishes. I understand about the heat - it was rough yesterday at 90! Thankfully looks like cooler temps for Sat.

Ilana - have fun on the rafting trip!

Ready for this taper to be over. 5 miles yesterday.. super hot. I'll just do 3 tomorrow and that's it, I like to rest the day before usually. If anyone is interested in tracking.. http://www.racemyrace.com/hosted/ogden_full.php msg me and I'll give you my full name.

zenetanar: I live in the District in the Mt. Vernon Square neighborhood (near the Convention Center). I've started doing Sunday long runs with the Washington Running Club, a nice group of people that meet @8AM (7AM starting in June) in Georgetown - there's a lot of fast runners in the bunch but they're not stuck up about it at all. They organize free group long runs from 8-20 miles every Sunday.

I was just lurking though this thread during lunch (3:30 one day, just not soon). I live in Mt. Vernon Square too, although I just call it Shaw cause I aint all that fancy. If you ever want to get in a run, let me know (I am between 4th and 5th on M)

dan: thanks for the report - great stuff. I absolutely did not mean pushing my pace. I meant "being smart enough to run slowly on a medium-long run over a big hill in a week when I'm ramping up my miles"!

jim: thanks - planning to get up into the high 30's at least so the first week of Pfitz is a mileage step-back week to compensate for the increased intensity.

ilana: thank you - sounds like a great trip - have fun!

kk: It's basically over - get some sleep! Hope the weather is kind at the weekend.

My summer training may potentially be derailed because I just found out I don't have a job after September, but for now plans remain the same.

runbegan40 - Good work last week. Hill work will pay off in the long run. Sorry about the job. How are prospects in your field?

KK - Good luck this weekend. Hopefully weather will cool off some. I've only been taking OTC stuff for the cold. Not sure whether it helps or not. The old joke used to be that if you treat a cold aggressively it will be gone in a week, but if you do nothing it will last 7 days. Mine seem to hang on longer as I've gotten older, but it may still be true that there isn't much you can do to get over it sooner. The OTC stuff does help with symptoms.

jeroly - You do need to train for hills. Good luck with the 10K.

dankelly - Great race report and again, great race. You executed perfectly. I'm hoping for that BQ as well, although I don't need to go as fast as you do.

jim - I'm hoping to maybe get to the Rock Hall while we are there. We don't return home until late Monday, so may have a chance.

ilana - Since you won't see this until you get back, I hope you enjoyed your trip. It sounds like fun. Now, showing my ignorance, what is an HE type washer and dryer?

Last hard run was Tues. 7.5 mile total with 2 x 2 miles at MP. Was off yesterday and felt like the cold was returning. Feel much better today and did an easy 5 this morning. I'm probably about 90% as far as the cold goes. Hoping to get to 100% by Sunday. Weather is looking better. Around 60 at start and high is predicted to be around 70. Not too bad. Hope it holds. Plan is still to try and go out at 3:45 pace and see how it goes. My BQ is 3:55, which will be my secondary goal. Hi to anyone I missed. Enjoy the rest of the week.

zenetanar - It was the Bull Run 50 Miler in Northern Virginia. Super fun run with awesome aid stations.

I've been doing a handful of 8 minute milers within my regular runs. Trying to take it easy in order to increase consistent 8 minute miles. Not banking on getting the 3:30 marathon this fall, but hoping to get it next year.

JeX- I was registered for that race. I live in Fairfax County and have wanted to do it for years. Last year I trained and ended up seventh on the wait list. This year I had to pull out at the beginning if April because of the (then misdiagnosed) stress fracture. Aargh!!! Maybe one day. I did get to do the 50K on the same course back in December, put on by the same people but very low key. Congrats on your race!!!! Now here I sit at the doctors office for yet another injury related appointment (whine whine whine....

Hey everyone. This thread has been a bit funky this year. Some days/weeks it's fairly dormant and then it busts loose like now! I've been hanging out on an Indiana thread with others who are somehow connected to Indiana. Most ran the Indy Mini that took place on May 4. I ran it as a MP training run, finishing in 1:44:xx. Running the Green Bay Marathon this Sunday. Bib 571. It looks like the rain may hold off, overnight lows in the 50s and high in mid/upper 70s, so not ideal. Thanks for the well wishes. I am hoping once again to go sub 3:40 and will probably start with the 3:35 pacer. I have a BQ qualifying time of 3:37:xx for '14. I want to go back to Boston in '14 and I doubt that time will get me in, especially after the announcement that they are letting all of the non finishers (5,600) repeat without requalifying. I'm not sure I agree with that decision, but it is what it is.

Jim - DW is staying home and I'm rooming with a buddy. If you want to sign up at the Expo and crash in our room, you're welcome to do so. Just let me know. Bring earplugs! I'll try to remember the posing - LOL!

Hello to all the newbies!

KK - good luck in your race! I'll make a bet with you - you are going to finish faster than me! I hope you do.

zen - I remember you from last year. Sorry with the injury crap you are going through. I hope you can get healthy - I know you are a heck of a runner.

Dan - Great race (bowing)!! You blew that thing out of the water. I guess you're gonna have to think about a sub 3 in your future.

cws - I take it you have a race this weekend too - good luck! If you BQ, are you planning to run Boston next year?

rb40 - I hope the job thing comes together for you. Running may be a good release for dealing with that.

Ilana - thx and have a fun trip. That's weird about the calf spasms. Any idea what that's about?

Jeroly - it sounds like you are building your mileage nicely.

szn - I never commented on your previous discussion about lack of spouse support for running. That's too bad. I am very fortunate in that my wife has always supported my running (I started in 2007) and comes to all my races. It's common for her to cry when she sees me in a marathon - I don't get why but she does. She shocked me when she decided to train for and run a half marathon last fall. And she's now ran about 5 HMs total between Sep '12 and now. I think spouses should support one another for anything that is for good health. And especially if the runners make efforts to schedule runs so as to minimize their effects on family plans.

Texas - hope your recovering nicely before another race!

Heading to Indy tomorrow afternoon/then the rest of the way to Green Bay on Saturday.

Ilanarama - Worst appliance delivery service ever! lol Was it for liability reasons or what was the reason they only delivered to the curb? Did you or your hubby try to entice them with a tip if they brought the appliances where they actually belong, in the house? Hope you're feeling better. Amazing how we can run marathons and walk around fine afterward but doing something seemingly simple but unfamiliar can completely throw our bodies out of whack. Enjoy the weekend at the San Juan River...sounds like a lot of fun.

runbohem - Sorry the race didn't turn out the way you wanted or expected and, personally, I think there is no shame in a DNF (I have more DNF's than I can count, including two of my last three races (non pacing gigs). Chalk this one up as a learning experience, regroup and then give it another go. It would've been nearly impossible, at Mile 16, to undo what was already done and that's exactly what happened to me at the L.A. Marathon as I started too aggressively and then struggled to a 14 minute positive split.KKRunner - Best of luck with your race and enjoy the carboload!

DanK - Absolutely amazing racing. You killed it!!!

Jim - Wise decision not to expend your energy on a marathon in less than ideal conditions. No sense in beating up your body when you believe that a less than stellar result will be the outcome due to the weather. Best of luck with the 5k and once that 10 mile pacing gig is behind you, maybe it will be a half marathon pacing gig next and then a marathon pacing gig. One thing I love about pacing gigs is that they make me very accountable as I am not just running for myself but have other runners relying on me and putting their trust in me. Only being nervous about my 3:45 pacing gig allowed me to have a less than stellar 3:44 L.A. Marathon RACE on March 17th and then be able to put in the necessary training to run a near effortless 3:45:01 at OC Marathon just 7 weeks later as the 3:45 pacer. That 3:45 at OC was a 29 minute personal course record and I am keeping the pressure on with a 3:40 pacing gig at San Francisco Marathon on 06/16. Any marathons planned for the summer or are you going to wait it out until Fall or Winter?

Runbeganatfoty - Sorry about the job situation...hopefully the supposed improving economy will open up new opportunities sooner rather than later.

cwschind - Best of luck with your race this weekend. Never a bad thing when your goal marathon is a BQ minus 10 and your secondary goal is only a BQ!

zenetanar - hope this lingering injury of yours soon subsides.

HoosierTed - Best of luck with your upcoming race and I agree with you about the decision to allow all those who didn't finish Boston 2013 to return. Ok, I can see allowing those who actually ran a BQ who had not finished to return but I would think that a good percentage of the non-finishers were charity runners and, in my opinion, they are lucky just to be there and they are there in the name of charity rather than for selfish reasons anyway, right? I am going to try like crazy after the San Francisco Marathon next month (3:40 Pacer) to drop 15+ pounds and see if I cannot pound out a BQ minus 5 at my goal marathon, the Big Cottonwood Marathon on 09/14. I have seen varying opinions out there and some believe that anyone who BQ's, even if just by a second, will likely get into Boston, providing their BQ is by mid September but that remains to be seen. Prior to the bombing, I didn't especially care if I ended up running Boston 2014 or Boston 2015 but, of course, now I would really like to be there for Boston 2014 as I think it will be an amazing experience with all that occurred.

Well, I had a fantastic last couple weeks of training and besides the 3:45:01 at OC Marathon (3:45 pacer) on 05/05, I got in a 20 mile training run on 05/11...longer than what Hanson's Marathon Method calls for but my area running club had a few runners doing 20 miles at the pace I wanted so I didn't want to run a 16 miler solo and, as it was, I ran hard for about 15 miles and then totally sputtered out for the last 5 miles on what was a warm and sunny morning and after already had logged 72 miles in the prior 6 days leading up to that 20 mile run. I just wanted to give it my all in Week 16 of Hanson's so I had nothing left going into the last two weeks of Hanson's Marathon Method but I should have paid better attention because, really, one of the hardest weeks of Hanson's 18 week program is Mile 17 (this week).

Even after a very challenging Week 16, however, I was able to run strong this week and should finish the week right around 60 miles and got in my last hard run last night, a 10 mile tempo run, and met my goal pace of 7:30/mile for those 10 miles and, overall, I turned it into a 13.11 mile @ 1.0 incline treadmill marathon in a time of 1:40:30 including 9 minute opening mile warmup, 10 miles in 75 minutes and 2.11 miles in 16:30 (7:49/mile). Now this weekend, it will just be a couple easy runs of 6 - 7 miles and I am resolved not to run faster than 9:00/mile until race day next weekend where my goal will be 3:27:45, a 5 minute marathon PR and a fast friend of mine who is registered but who has a goal marathon the next weekend has graciously offered to pace me. Like me, he is a Marathon Maniac so a 3:27:45 for him will be a great training run but, he believes, will leave enough in the tank for him to challenge for a PR (sub 3:18?) and/or BQ (sub 3:15) at Rock N Roll San Diego 7 days later.

On the baby front, I do hope to get my 6 week old daughter out for the first time this weekend in her BOB running stroller as I take her and my wife to the Rose Bowl stadium which is very popular amongst area runners, walkers and cyclists for its 5k loop around the stadium with pedestrian and cycling lanes and plenty of drinking fountains and restrooms along the route.

Dan- Great race report. Is your BQ time 3:10? I wonder if they are going to expand the field next year. I think I read that all of the towns along the course need to approve that...I hope you are basking in your accomplishment and taking it easy a bit- you deserve it!

Jeroly-Welcome! Are you running a marathon this fall?

Londonwelsh- I heard about the parkruns via a facebook running group- I wish they had them around here.

Kk- I tried to message you because I want to try to track you Sunday, but I couldn't figure out how to do it! So I guess I'll just have to wait to hear the results. I hope you have an awesome race! Good luck!

runbo- Sorry you had such a bad experience, but I agree that there was nothing wrong with going for it despite all the interruptions in your training, and taking the consequences if that was what you really wanted. Otherwise you would have been wondering what you could have done if you pushed it. Glad you are feeling better about it and already planning a half marathon. Good getting right back into it.

Tex- You sure do travel a lot- I'm jealous! When is your trip? We haven't been to Yellowstone yet, but it is definitely on the list. You are getting some long runs in- I hope your knee is holding up alright. Enjoy your taper!

Ilana- Glad you had that great trail run and I hope you're enjoying your trip- it sounds awesome. And I hope you have no twinges, cramps, spasms or knee-clicking while you're out there on the water!

CWS- I agree that you should just trust your training- you've definitely put in the work. Glad that you are feeling better and that it doesn't look like it's going to be too warm for you Sunday. I'm looking forward to hearing about it. Good luck!!

Forty- Sorry to hear about your job. Don't know what field you are in, but the economy seems to be improving a bit, so hopefully that helps. Glad that you are ramping up those miles and seeing the improvements in your training. And ha, thanks- it was a fun day and a close game even though my Mets lost

Jim- Probably a smart decision by you to skip the marathon, given all those factors, but glad you are feeling strong. Good luck in that 5k!

Ted- Thanks for the bib number and good luck in Green Bay! That's sweet that your wife cries at your races. Do you think she will ever do a full? My poor husband, you all think he is horrible, but he really isn't that bad lol! In his defense, since I started back running more seriously 3 years ago, I have had a lot of injuries. I ran the 2011 NYC marathon with a torn plantar fascia, then ran a half on a metatarsal stress fracture last year and ended up in a boot for 2 months and then got the other stress fracture training for Boston, plus some other injuries in between. And he does come and watch me race (and even runs some of the 5ks) if he doesn't need to be with our kids somewhere. He likes to play sports, but he just isn't a runner, so he doesn't fully get it. He will do a few miles with me on a Saturday and for the most part I think he hates every minute of it! Anyway, I will try to track you on Sunday- I hope you get whatever time you need to get into Boston again next year.. I guess we won't know what that is until September. Good luck!

Rocky- glad your training has gone well and good luck with the last week.

I feel like I am in a little bit of a limbo...kind of running with no purpose. I was thinking of a 10k this weekend, but it was more than half an hour away, and then on Wednesday when I started running my achilles tendon felt a little tight. I stopped to stretch it a couple of times, but it got worse. It was a loop that was just under 9 miles, and there was no shorter way back. So anyway I've been icing it and I tried to run today, but I stopped because it was pretty painful. I'm trying to learn from the past and hopefully nip this in the bud so will try not to run until it is pretty much pain free. At least I can cross- train. There's a 5k at the high school in 2 weeks, so if I feel better I will probably run that.

Crznszn: I was thinking about doing the wineglass marathon in Corning 10/6 but something or other is in the works for the fall. I'll run a 10k Sunday (Capital Hill Classic) and see if i can hold marathon goal pace for the shorter distance. It will be a reality check in any event!

For the 2014 BM, qualifying times have to have been run after September 22, 2012.

Is it reasonable to expect that for the 2015 BM, qualifying times will have to have been run after some time in September 2013?

I ask because I will be 55 for the 2015 BM and will have my BQ time boosted to 3:40. I think that I should have a very good shot at beating that this fall, given how I think my training is going. I may even get under 3:30 but I'm far less confident about that.

jimair1: Smart call on this weekend's race. 70F = a strong no thanks from me too, even for shorter races. There's nothing worse than heat.

ilana: Glad to hear that you're healing up OK. Nice job on the trail run. I keep meaning to try out trail running, but it hasn't happened yet. We're looking for a new house, and we decided that being close to some reserve land is a criterion, so there's a chance that I'll get to do some regular trail running after we move. Enjoy the rafting, sounds like fun!

In other words, that looks pretty darn ideal to me: cool, maybe lightly misting, but most importantly, nice cloud cover. Hope the taper is going well, and GOOD LUCK tomorrow!

cwschind: Glad to hear that you're rounding into shape on the taper. You've no doubt put in the work between training and that crazy tri business. GOOD LUCK to you too! Does your race have runner tracking?

.. and all of the qualification times are multiples of 5 minutes, FWIW. Either way, best of luck in Green Bay tomorrow. If you did the half as a MP training run on pace for 3:30, how'd you feel after that? That MP would of course put you closer to 3:30; are you worried about fading?

runbegan: Ouch, sorry to hear about the job. I that one of many reasons that lots of us love this activity is because it is daily stress relief; hopefully that works for you too. Hopefully the combination of advance notice and the improving economy gives you time to get your next gig lined up.

rocky: You sure sound trained to the hilt at this point, so the big PR sounds reasonable. You're going to give this a good taper, right? I could never get my kids into the running stroller - they just wouldn't sit still for > 5 minutes, and neither of them would fall asleep. I hope it works out for you, I would have loved to have had nap time for exercise when mine were little.

crznszn: Yep, my BQ time (M35-39) is 3:10, so I'm not clear of the time by much. I've been following the various threads here reacting to the recent BAA announcement to try to figure out what it means. Seems like it'll be hard to say until the BAA says whether or not they're going to also make the race bigger. Be careful with that achilles - it'd be a bummer to get injured when not even training!

jeroly: BQ times have always been valid for a specific window. Someone else here will know better than me, but I think it's along the lines of being that your time must be run in the ~18 months before the target race date.

I've not run since the race last Sunday, but my legs have felt OK since ~Thursday. Weirdly, my body seems to have recovered much better than my brain: I've been legit dumb for most of the week at work, and felt weirdly foggy on Wednesday. I've felt back to normal as of yesterday, so I'll probably go for an easy jog RSN to see how that sits. Good luck again to those of your racing tomorrow!

Thanks guys! DanK I'm not sure how you did it in weather like that. I'm glad I ran it but I didn't see me fiancé until mile 21, and I'm glad now because I might have stopped. I think I'm finally recovered from the hypothermia I got though! Note to self: I might wear more than shorts and a tank next time it's 50 degrees and rainy the whole time.

KK -- Wow, what a Super fast race, especially in those conditions. A huge congrats This memorably caps off a great few months for you.

Ted - Wishing you a great race in Green Bay. Hey, stick around.

CWS -- Hope that you recover and do well up in Cleveland.

Dan -- Sorry, I never complimented you on that wonderfully written RR. And I still can't get over how fast and well you ran Providence. I'm betting you get into Boston - you would have last year, and they are probably just going to open up more slots for those people who do decide to come back.

Ilana - Hope you're having fun on the river.

Jim -- And sorry you couldn't find a place to stay in Green Bay or I'm sure you would have done well. But maybe would have been a lot on your body after Carmel.

Szn - Thanks. Yeah, one of the reasons I'm running marathons in so I can see the states. Travel is a passion. And it's fun planning my trips. Just deciding my fall races and Portland Maine is looking good for early October.

Zene - Any progress? I hate that you can't run.

Rocky - Love seeing that baby stroller. Hope you kill it at OC.

Sorry, we're off to the daughter's graduation that starts soon. Hope to get in 16 tomorrow, but it's going to be tough to hold any kind of pace in the warm/humid weather. And it's been so hard to catch my breath lately. Oh well, I've got 2 weeks to figure it out.

CongratsCongrats to kk and Hoosier. Good job in tough conditions. Nice job on the 5K Jim.

Didn't make the A goal today, but did get the BQ (3:50:22). Whether that will be good enough to get in isn't clear to me. I was on pace through about 17, but the heat got to me. It was 66 at start and 75 when I finished. Sunny as well. Will have more details when I'm back on a regular computer rather than the iPad.

10K in 48:19 this morning. Felt really good. I wasn't planning to run it that fast, but I had been warned about the last 1/4 of the race being a very tough uphill, so I decided to put some time in the bank so to speak...as it turned out, the uphill wasn't really particularly tough so I was able to maintain my pace all the way through. I really had a lot left in the tank at the end and was very happy with the result!

Macmillan says that predicts a 3:47 marathon, so I'm feeling like I'm really on a good track to get to a BQ time for the fall, whether that's 3:30 or 3:40.

Cws and Ted, WTG with those matching 3:50s in the heat, no doubt it just wore you down (believe me, I know how that feels).That's a big problem, finding races with a shot at good weather that aren't in April or October, especially if you're a 50 stater.

Cws, catching that cold obviously didn't help. I had forgotten that the BQ time will be 3:55 for me too starting next fall. What did you think of the course?

Ted, aw, your wife cries at your races? My wife enjoyed hanging out with Diane last year during the Derby. It's so great she can run halves too.

Jim, congrats on the new PR in the 5K. no doubt you'll break that soon. So Chicago is your next one?

KK, I still can't get over your 3:21, wow. Hope you've warmed up and are recovering.

Jer, Nice job on your 10K. What is your BQ time?

Szn, hope that Achilles is better.

I somehow finished my 16 thanks to walking breaks. Stupid knee started hurting at 4, yikes Been icing and rolling. And it was 70 at start and humid and windy again. This hasn't been a good cycle in the last four weeks. No tempos. slow LRs. Did my first intervals Friday. Just want to finish the next one in two weeks.

kk: many congratulations again. I hope you're recovering well and you'll tell us all about it soon.

ted: I hope the heat didn't take too much out of you. Well done for toughing it out.

cws: halfway between A and B goals can't be too bad! Congratulations on your BQ.

Well done to jim and jeroly on your races too.

Thanks for all the well wishes on my job. I have time to find something and am definitely hopeful that it will all turn out for the best. I ran a 12 this morning - including my "favourite" hill - to finish off a 34 mile week. Still feeling good about my pre-Pfitz preparations - 3 weeks to go before I start my training in earnest.

Alright, I've now attempted to update the race page, but I'm sure there is a lot of stuff missing. Send me a private message with any new races or times you want updated and I'll definitely get them up there! I've been a bit MIA as I'm a music teacher and this is our crazy time of year, but it's basically over after yesterday. I spent 14 hours on an amusement park trip with 46 singers in 4th-6th grade. Not sure what a good idea it was to power walk around the park with a huge backpack on, but my leg feels okay today.

KK - Amazing race time! I've loved having you on our board, but I'm guessing you'll be leaving us soon.

Dan - Same.

CWS - What is your BQ time.. are you concerned this one isn't fast enough to get in because so many people want to do it next year? My husband BQ'd by three and a half minutes and I am really hoping he gets in, because I don't want to run it if he can't. I do hope they expand the field size, although I guess the last time they actually sold out at registration time, the qualifying times were about 6 minutes slower. And everyone with 1:30ish or faster under the QT got in. So that's like the current QT plus an additional 4:30.

Jeroly - You have from about Sept 9 - the following registration date (or whenever it fills up) to get your BQ, and the time is based on your age on the date of that race. So for me, since I turn 35 in a month, I had from Sept 9 until the 2014 registration date to get a sub-3:40, even though my current age is 34 and I would have needed a 3:35.

Feeling hopeful right now -- I'm not sure if was pool running, cycling outdoors or bad shoes, but I decided to give all a break for a week and see how things went. I also got a deep tissue massage on my right leg and groin (yeah, the massage therapist spent an hour solely on breaking up scar tissue right at the fracture site, and working out tightness in my hammies, quads, and adductors... it was CRAZY painful, but worked and I have another one scheduled on Thursday. Covered by insurance, thank goodness!) I did lots of swimming, indoor cycling, and core work and finished the week feeling like a lot of healing has happened. My husband felt the fracture site and said the surrounding soft tissue seems a lot less swollen than it did ten days ago. I am going to attempt to cycle outdoors on Tuesday or Wednesday and see if that aggravates it at all. I have x-rays scheduled on June 3 and if they show calluses on the bone and bone union, I can start using the anti-gravity treadmill at PT. WOO HOO!

Jerloy - Well done with your time - you got well under 50m you must be delighted.

Dan - Well done in the marathon, what a time! I guess you´ll be by passing the sub 3.20 +3.10 thread and go straight to the 3.00 thread? Though looking at your smoking HM time does give a 3.10 or thereabouts, but as we know in running 2+2 does always mean 4! Hope the recovery is going well.

Jim - I would have bailed on that marathon with those temps too. Hope the 5K went well.

Ilana - Hope you had a nice weekend. Good to hear your hip is on the mend. Sounds like you've got a lot of stress in your calf? Have you tried using a tennis ball to massage it? Or is worth going to a PT?

Runningbegan. Sorry to hear about the job. Fingers crossed.

CWS - Well done on 3.50 in those conditions! Hope the recovery is going well.

Rocky - Here was me thinking that TT was a running machine..just incredible what you run!

TT - Well done getting on those miles in those conditions, hope the knee is getting better.

Zen - Sounds like things are improving (I´ll read your blog later to get me up to speed as to what happened)

Crzn - Hope the Achilles is getting better.

For those that have only started posting here in 2013, I used to post here last year. Like Runbo I live in Europe, (Madrid) and I ran Paris last month (I ran it last year too - Rocky you did too right?) Got a PR and I enjoyed the race much more this year, I´ll put together a RR later. I did a HM at the end of April, got a new PR there too, but not as much as I thought, I´ll right a mini RR about that too.

I´ve got no marathons planned this side of summer, I´m looking at Valencia (ran it last year, and one of favourite marathons and a pancake flat course) or Frankfurt (the world´s second fastest course after Berlin) this fall and I can´t make up my mind. I have thought about doing both, but they´re only 3 wks week apart so I really can´t see myself getting PR´s in both of them. (the HM I did was only 3 wks after Paris and I could feel it)

It just depends on when they open up the Boston registration. "Early Sept" is all they have said. If it opens up before that marathon, it will probably fill even though you could get a QT at the Cottonwood. If it dosnt fill up you can use it for 2014. I checked and it is Sept 22, where the window opens up for 2015.

Pre- Race: I got off work around 2:30, rushed home to drop my dog off for boarding, and luckily my fiancé was able to get off of work as well around 4:30, so we headed up to Ogden about an hour from where we live. Btw, Ogden is a super sketchy town.. I started to get nervous that we our hotel room was going to be worse than Boston, where we stayed in a South Boston, and well, it was interesting. It turned out not to be that bad, except apparently none of the hotels had shuttles, but fiancé was a good sport about having to drive me (and last bus left at 5 am).

We headed out to dinner and the first place we tried scared me enough with all the grease I saw that we went to another place, and found pizza and beer, my favorite before a race, so all was good. I really carb loaded for this thing I guess, as I had had the same thing the night before at a bachelorette party. We finished around 8, and headed back to the hotel. I went to bed around 10, and actually managed to sleep a bit before my alarm got me up at 4 am. I put my shorts and tank on and tons of layers over it as it was raining and about 45-50 degrees. I made a nasty cup of coffee from the tiny coffeemaker, forced down a bagel, and we headed out the door, he got me to the drop off point and I was able to meet up with a co-worker and some people I will run a Ragnar Relay with in June. The bus ride was about an hour long up the canyon, but we weren’t complaining as the race didn’t start until 7:15, and the bus was heated.

We arrived at the canyon around 6:00, more than an hour before the race started. I put a garbage bag on over my sweats and headed out. We waited at least half an hour for porta potties, so at least that took up some of the time. There were fires around, if you can believe it, so ashes were blowing in our faces if we tried to warm up. Seems like a decent idea at the time but, then you have ashes in your face and it’s not as great. We waited around, standing the whole time in the rain, and finally they started the national anthem and we headed over to the start line. My co-worker was planning on running at a 7:30 pace, after running a 7:45ish half a month or so ago, so I says ok and good luck. I kept my sweat pants on until 2 minutes before the gun went off and left my sweatshirt on because I was pretty cold.

Miles 1-5 -- 7:28, 7:46, 7:38, 7:35, 7:59

The gun goes off and I figured here goes nothing. I wasn’t too discouraged at this point because to be honest I figured I would warm up. I realized I ran the first mile a bit too quickly and tried to pull it back. I took my sweatshirt off at mile 2 and realized that sounded easier than it actually was, while running and hoping I don’t run into anything. This is really embarrassing and dumb, but around mile 3-4 I noticed that wet cotton underwear was a poor choice, and was already chafing pretty badly for it. So at mile 5 I actually stopped in a porta potty, took them off, and left them there. I am super classy, and that is why I have an 8 minute mile on that course. I was however, pretty happy I did it, as it was already hurting pretty bad.

Miles 6-10 – 7:37, 7:33, 7:37, 7:43, 7:43

I think around here I actually started to question or not I was going to finish this race. The rain showed NO signs of letting up and I was freezing. I tried to chat with a few people and then I usually would pass them, trying to stay somewhat on pace. The pace felt easy, which was nice, but I couldn’t feel my legs really. My arms were bright red from the cold and rain, and my shoes were sloshy already. In case things got better, I took a Gu at mile 8. I took 3 Gus in the entire race, mostly without water. I might have had a full cup of water total, as I’d get a cup, try to drink it, but was just too cold to drink anything. Plain Gu without water is kind of rough btw. Also, I had to bite them all to open them as my fingers were just NOT working whatsoever. I passed co-worker about now, and he said his calves were hurting. I felt pretty bad as we still had a ways to go and he looked pretty miserable.

Miles 11-15 – 7:41, 7:42, 7:46, 7:36, 7:46

My fiancé had said he’d try to be at the halfway mark so to be honest, I was planning on telling him how cold I was and getting some sympathy and concern since we have experienced me getting hypothermia, and he gets pretty worried if I’m cold for too long now. Fortunately or unfortunately, I didn’t see him, so I kept on going. Mile 14 had the only hill that really went on for more than a few hundred feet, and it climbed for a little over half a mile. It was surprisingly not that bad and I managed to run this mile faster than the mile before it. I was still hoping maybe my fiancé would be at mile 14, because there was a small crowd, but he wasn’t there. I realized that if I stopped anywhere on the course without a vehicle, I’d just be still cold and not even running to keep me warm so that stopped me from just quitting at an aid station.

At the mile 15 marker, I decided to finish it. Yes, it took that long, and I was still miserably cold but I reasoned that it was only 11 miles, and my legs weren’t tired at all (either that or I just couldn’t feel them), so I might as well try and get a PR out of this mess. I had a small rock in my shoe, and just hoped it didn’t become a huge issue because I didn’t want to stop and remove it.

Miles 16-20 –7:38, 7:35, 7:30, 7:36, 7:36

I picked up the pace here and my legs still felt pretty good. The rest of me still freezing. I honestly felt the first signs of legs being tired around mile 18, which I figured was fine. A 20 something guy came up behind me and said he had been trying to catch up to me for the last 5 miles. I had passed him and his friend pretty early on the course after chatting for a bit. It was his first marathon, so he was doing pretty well, and had lost his friend. Actually the miles I ran here I was chatting the whole time but they were my fastest, and I’m chalking that up to distraction.

Miles 21-26 – 7:35, 7:27, 7:26, 7:14, 7:23, 7:20

At this point I figure I’m going to PR so that will be good, but still, all I want is for this race to be over. My legs were feeling it but I knew I’d make it through okay. I finally saw fiancé at mile 22, and told him I was glad I didn’t see him before because I would have stopped. He said I was doing great and he’d meet me at the finish. Around this time they took us off the road and onto a gravel crossway, then through a tunnel and we went onto a park walkway for most of the remainder of the race. It was really rolling, and here is where the half marathoners merged with the full, so my guess is you have the 3:20ish marathoners trying to go around 2:20 halfers, on a more narrow pathway. I kept chatting with the same guy until around mile 24 where he went on to kick my a$$ and leave me in the dust. (I think he was also less interested after I mentioned I’d have to say hi to my fiancé. Why I’m not sure, as I promise I looked like a drowned rat and like no fun at all on this whole course). I don’t know how I managed to run the last 3 miles that quickly, but I just kept going and knew it would be over soon. My legs were tired at this point, quads burning, and I saw the mile 26 marker and seriously wondered if I could walk a bit. That thought didn’t last long, but my pace did slow to almost 7:50, I think, as by the time I just didn’t have much left.

I crossed the finish line at 3:21:41 clock time (chip time 3:21:30). Which was good for 3rd in AG and 28th in women overall. I got my medal and made the volunteers let me out early so I could just go. I was SO cold and as soon I stopped started shivering pretty badly. I knew my hands had no dexterity but at this point I realized that they were freakishly swollen, which I knew was a sign of hypothermia from last time. I was glad I had taken my engagement ring off because it might have needed to be cut off if it was on. I had a half mile walk to the car that seemed like forever. As soon as I got to the hotel room fiancé ran the water for the bathtub, untied my shoes (I still couldn’t move my hands), and I was made to sit in the hot water for about half an hour. I eventually warmed up enough to get going, and we stopped and I had a beer and onion rings of all things, and a salad since that’s usually all I want after a race because I can’t have it the few days before. I wasn’t all that hungry all day and despite not drinking much water on the course, didn’t feel dehydrated at all. The worst part about Saturday after the race was that this was a chafing DISASTER and I had (still have) a giant welt on the inside of my right thigh that was the size of a grapefruit and very swollen. It prevented normal walking, which was funny for some people I’m sure.

I really don’t think I would do a race in those conditions again, as I really was that miserable the WHOLE time and usually I really enjoy races. But at least I learned that lesson. AND got a PR, which I am happy about now.

As for what’s next, I’m trying to figure that out now. I have a Ragnar Relay in June which is obviously just for fun, but I’m running on an ultra team (6 runners instead of 12, so double the distances). I also have a half in July so I’m hoping I can beat my PR (pretty confident on that one). Then I’m getting married in August and going to Cancun the week after, so I know any plan will get derailed then. I wanted to run Top of Utah again because I love that race, but at this point I’m wondering if I should just really try and train for NYC, I’m also trying to pick a goal.. at this point I think I have the capability to go under 3:20 if I do things like run more miles and not debate the whole race whether or not I even want to finish it. I’m really wondering if I have the capability to run around the 3 hour mark, and my gut tells me yes if I train right (ie run a LOT more miles) but to be honest I like the smaller goal setting a little more and get scared with big jumps like that. I also hate running marathon pace, because it feels hard to me at the time in training and that freaks me out. But things like that, I suppose I can cross that bridge when I get there. I will likely keep gradually increasing mileage until that stops working, and then reevaluate.

So that’s it, folks… my long report of thinking “I don’t want to do this” for half the course. Pretty exciting huh? I feel kind of wimpy admitting how much I considered giving up, but it was honestly one of the mentally toughest things I’ve done in a while. It was a big week, though… I got sworn into the Utah State Bar on Wednesday, and capped it off with a PR, so if nothing else, a week of showing that hard work will pay off.